ORLANDO, Fla. – Coach Bill O’Brien was asked Tuesday morning for his thoughts on Texans’ owner Bob McNair’s comments at the NFL meetings that he wants his players standing for the national anthem.

The Texans didn't have any players kneel during the national anthem until they played a game at Seattle last season. All but about 10 Texans took a knee and locked arms during the national anthem before the game after comments by McNair about not letting "the inmates run the prison" were leaked.

“My personal opinion – and I really believe this – is that players have the right to express themselves,” O’Brien said at the coaches breakfast. “We have very smart players who feel strongly about social issues. I believe in our players’ right to express themselves. I respect everybody’s opinion on this matter.”

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O’Brien believes the NFL meetings should bring everyone together to hear their opinions and ideas on issues that cause players to protest by kneeling during the national anthem.

“I believe all of us can come together – owners, coaches and players – to put out a better message,” he said. “This thing is running down the tracks right now, and we’re all having a hard time getting a handle on it.

“I don’t understand why owners, coaches and players don’t get together and talk about these issues. We don’t seem like we ever really get anything resolved at the owners’ meetings. Once in a while we get a few things resolved on a rules basis.

“One of the things I’ve learned in this league is that it’s very important to listen to everybody’s opinion. You’ve got a lot of really intelligent people in this league, starting with the owners. Something that’s stood out to me is the intelligence of the coaches and all the ideas they have.”

“When you reach this level as a player, with the exception of a very few, all of these players are very bright guys that have well-educated opinions,” O’Brien said. “If you have a select group of players in a room with coaches and owners and you talk about everything – social issues, rules on the field, what is a catch – and I think if you had a group like that, you could get a lot of things solved.”